The first of 45 new neon signs coming to Route 66 in Stroud, Oklahoma, was recently installed as part of the town’s forthcoming Route 66 centennial celebration.
Here’s what the new sign looks like at night:
Charles Palmer, one of the movers and shakers for the Stroud Route 66 neon project, told Route 66 News that two more will be installed soon and that 10 are in production.
The neon project must be finished by the end of 2025, Palmer said, and he anticipates a big celebration by October or November attended by the governor and other officials.
The Oklahoma Route 66 Commission in August awarded the City of Stroud a $999,600 grant for the neon-sign project.
It will use true neon lighting, not LED, and employ timers so the neon fires up nightly from dusk to 1 a.m.
The idea for dozens of neon signs along Stroud’s Route 66 corridor came from a key scene in the 2006 Disney-Pixar animated film “Cars” that took place in a fictional Route 66 town.
Stroud essentially wanted to see the scene come to life in a real Route 66 town.
The commission awarded a total of $6.6 million in grants last summer, including other neon sign projects in Oklahoma and improvements to the Blue Whale site in Catoosa.
(Images of the new neon sign in Stroud, Oklahoma, courtesy of Charles Palmer)